Border Patrol chief, progressive mayor caught on camera in tense street showdown: ‘Excellent day in Evanston’
A heated confrontation unfolded Wednesday in Evanston, Illinois, where city Mayor Daniel Biss — a progressive Democrat and congressional candidate — confronted Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino during a street-level Title 8 immigration enforcement operation that drew “a couple dozen” protesters and quickly turned chaotic, according to video and accounts posted on X. The standoff occurred around 11:30 a.m. near Green Bay Road and Dodge Avenue in the city outside Chicago, where an 11-vehicle Border Patrol convoy had arrived to detain multiple individuals. Eyewitness Mark Weyermuller wrote that agents “appeared to detain at least two” people as the crowd formed. Video shared by FOX 32 Chicago reporter Paris Schutz shows Biss, dressed in a dark tailored coat and dress shoes, visibly standing out from the bundled-up crowd, stepping directly toward Bovino as protesters yell and blow whistles around them. Biss confronted him immediately, declaring, “The abuse has not been acceptable. The racism has not been acceptable. The violence has not been acceptable.” DHS: CHICAGO CRIME DROPS SHARPLY AFTER FEDERAL OPERATION TARGETING CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Bovino, surrounded by agents wearing protective masks and tactical gear, fired back, “Yeah, that’s why we’re here in your community.” A nearby protester then shouted repeatedly at the commander, “Hey Bovino, we don’t want you here, bro! We don’t want you!” As the shouting intensified, multiple protesters tried to block the roadway while police from Evanston and Chicago worked to keep a corridor open for vehicles to leave the area. DHS TORCHES ‘BAMBOOZLED’ DEMS FOR CALLING ICE CRACKDOWN ‘VICIOUS LIES’ Biss, who is running for Congress as a “pragmatic progressive,” later amplified his criticism in a post on X, writing, “The only ‘violent mob’ in Evanston today was Greg Bovino and his masked thugs, terrorizing innocent people and then lying about our city to try and sow chaos.” He added that Evanston is “safe in spite of ICE/CBP, not because of it,” praised residents who “chased you out of town” and concluded with, “Don’t come back.” Bovino disputed Biss’ claims and described the encounter as productive. ICE ACCUSES DEM LAWMAKER OF JOINING ‘RIOTING CROWD’ IN ARIZONA, INTERFERING IN MASS ARREST He wrote that agents were in Evanston “to make his city a safer place through Title 8 immigration enforcement” and said the mayor “fell back into the divisive talking points that we’ve heard ad nauseam.” Bovino called it an “excellent day in Evanston.” The Evanston Police Department and Chicago Police Department assisted with crowd control and ensuring federal vehicles could exit safely, according to Bovino’s account. In the video, officers directed traffic and created space as protesters attempted to approach the convoy. Title 8 is the federal legal framework for immigration enforcement and can involve operations far from the border when agents are conducting investigations or targeting specific individuals. Wednesday’s confrontation reflects growing tensions between federal immigration enforcement and leadership in Democrat-run communities. Fox News Digital reached out to Biss’ office and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for comment.
Federal employees in the hot seat as GOP senator pushes transparency proposal: ‘Historic opportunity’
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, introduced legislation that would compel the United States Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to create a public directory of federal government employees, including their salaries, job descriptions and other details. Ernst’s introduction of the Where’s the Workforce At Listed by Duties and Office (Where’s WALDO) Act follows a report from conservative fiscal watchdog group Open The Books showing that the swamp has gotten bigger, richer and more secretive since 2020. “Besides raking in massive paychecks, including close to 800,000 non-War Department employees who make $100,000 or more per year, hundreds of thousands of government workers’ names and information were redacted from the information Open The Books was able to obtain for it’s “Mapping The Swamp” report,” Ernst said. DEPT OF ED SPENDING SOARED 749% DESPITE DOWNSIZING, NEW DOGE-INSPIRED INITIATIVE REVEALS “Like a twisted game of reverse Secret Santa, taxpayers are gifting paychecks to bureaucrats who remain anonymous. “The American people should not be forced to play ‘Where’s Waldo’ when it comes to figuring out where federal workers are during the workday. I will be embracing the Christmas spirit by creating a list, that anyone can check twice, to clearly state where every federal employee is and how much they are being paid.” Open The Books, a project of American Transparency, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, nonpartisan charitable organization, closely tracks government spending and released an expansive report last month that analyzed all publicly disclosed federal salaries for fiscal year 2024. The group found a total of 2.9 million civil service employees with a total payroll of $270 billion, plus an additional 30% for benefits. According to the data, while the total number of employees rose by 5% since 2020, payroll grew nearly five times as much. The current federal workforce is costing American taxpayers $673,000 per minute, $40.4 million per hour and just under $1 billion per day, according to Open The Books. This includes almost 1,000 workers who are making more than the president’s $400,000 per year salary, 31,452 non-War Department federal employees who made more than every governor of all 50 states and 793,537 people making $100,000 or more. Those making $300,000 or more have seen an 84% increase since 2020, while there has similarly been an 82% increase in those earning $200,000 or more, the report points out. During Open The Book’s investigation, the fiscal watchdog group also found that the names of 383,000 federal workers from 56 different agencies were redacted, amounting to a total of $38.3 billion in pay. AOC’S CAMPAIGN POURS MASSIVE CASH INTO LUXURY PUERTO RICO HOTELS, PRICEY CATERING AND BAD BUNNY VENUE RENTAL “The Trump administration has a historic opportunity to bring transparency to the administrative state. While federal employees don’t add as much to the debt as safety net programs or defense spending, they do cost us a billion dollars per day. Their performance for taxpayers can be the difference between efficient, effective services and a vicious cycle of administrative bloat,” Open The Books CEO John Hart told Fox News Digital. “Our investigators found far too many redactions and blind spots, including a vast ecosystem of contractors, that DOGE could have fixed. Accountability for taxpayers is impossible without real-time transparency. Making these disclosures a routine responsibility of OPM is an excellent step toward the real-time transparency our founders would have written into the Constitution had they been alive today.” When reached for comment, an OPM spokesperson told Fox News Digital that it “is proud to support” Ernst’s new bill, describing the legislation’s suggested measures as “common sense.” “Transparency and accountability in the federal workforce are essential to maintaining public trust,” the spokesperson said. “Providing the public with clear, standardized information about federal positions, duties and compensation while appropriately protecting employee privacy is an important part of good government.” Ernst’s Where’s WALDO Act would include both employees of the government and federal contractors. Once the bill has passed, OPM will have 18 months to develop the directory. The directory, according to the bill, must include each worker’s name, job title, description of duties, agency of employment, primary duty station, annual rate of pay including bonuses and the date at which the individual started working.
Texas, Florida sue FDA over abortion pill approval
Seeking to pull mifepristone from the drug market, the states argued that the FDA did not properly evaluate the pill’s safety and effectiveness.
Ken Paxton’s office launches tip line to encourage enforcement of Texas’ “bathroom bill”
The attorney general’s complaint form is the latest effort to enforce new state restrictions on which restrooms transgender people can use in public buildings.
Senate GOP moves 97 Trump nominees closer to historic milestone
Senate Republicans inched closer to history on Wednesday after blowing past yet another procedural obstacle on their way to confirming nearly 100 of President Donald Trump’s nominees. As part of their mad dash from Washington ahead of the upcoming holiday recess, Senate Republicans advanced a tranche of 97 of Trump’s picks. The successful party-line vote puts the GOP one step away from confirming the batch of nominees. The final confirmation vote is expected on Thursday, barring an agreement with Senate Democrats to speed up the process. SENATE GOP BARRELS PAST BLOCKADE TO ADVANCE NEARLY 100 TRUMP NOMINEES And if that vote is successful, which it is expected to be, Senate Republicans will have confirmed more of Trump’s picks than any other president in one year. The current nominees package would place Trump at 415 total confirmed during the first year of his second term, which leapfrogs his total of 323 during his first term. It also blows past former President Joe Biden, who, at the same period at the end of his first year in office, had 365. Senate Republicans have rapidly confirmed hundreds of Trump’s picks since changing the Senate’s rules surrounding the confirmation process in September in a bid to smash through Senate Democrats’ blockade against advancing even the most low-level positions throughout the Trump administration. SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH MAJOR RULE CHANGE TO FAST-TRACK TRUMP NOMINEES IN BATCHES THIS WEEK The GOP went nuclear — the fourth time in the Senate’s history — to lower the threshold for certain picks to just a simple majority, rather than the typical, 60-vote filibuster. That change has allowed Republicans to quickly move through sub-cabinet level positions at a brisk pace and to tee up Trump’s expected historic moment. Among the list of nominees are former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., to serve as inspector general at the Department of Labor and two picks for the National Labor Relations Board, James Murphy and Scott Mayer, along with several others across nearly every federal agency. TRUMP RENOMINATES MUSK ALLY JARED ISAACMAN TO LEAD NASA AFTER EARLIER REVERSAL Lawmakers also separately confirmed Trump’s choice to run the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), billionaire Jared Isaacman, and his pick for a spot on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Douglas Weaver. Isaacman’s confirmation sailed through on a bipartisan 67-30 vote but served as the second go-round for the upper chamber to ruminate on his ascension atop NASA. Trump had previously nominated him to run the nation’s space agency in December last year, but he was pulled earlier this year after a “thorough review of prior associations.” But Isaacman was later renominated in November for the same post, where Trump lauded his “passion for space, astronaut experience, and dedication to pushing the boundaries of exploration, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and advancing the new space economy.”
Over 200 House Dems vote against criminalizing transgender surgery for kids
More than 200 House Democrats voted against a bill aimed at criminalizing transgender medical treatment for minors on Wednesday evening. The bill passed in a 216 to 211 vote that had some bipartisan crossover. Three Democrats, Reps. Vicente Gonzales, D-Texas, Don Davis, D-N.C., and Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, voted with Republicans for the bill. Four Republicans, Reps. Mike Kennedy, R-Utah, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., Gabe Evans, R-Colo., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., voted against it. TRANS DEM REP. MCBRIDE SUGGESTS PARTY WENT TOO FAR WITH TRANSGENDER AGENDA BEFORE PUBLIC WAS READY It was widely opposed by most Democrats, however. Forty-five House Republicans signed on to formally back the legislation before the vote. And while the majority of Republicans supported it on the House floor, it’s unclear as of now if it will be taken up in the GOP-led Senate. Transgender issues, particularly related to minors, have been one of the topics driving a wedge between moderate and progressive Democrats. But the severity of the bill’s language appears to have turned off a significant number of Democrats in the House. The bill creates new federal crimes that carry up to 10 years in prison for doctors performing transgender-affirming surgeries on minors, while also making it a crime to prescribe puberty blockers. GENDER DYSPHORIA TREATMENTS POSE ‘SIGNIFICANT RISKS’ TO KIDS AND TEENS, HHS REPORT REVEALS Parents or guardians of children under 18 could also be held criminally liable if they consent to or otherwise facilitate transgender treatment for them. “This extreme bill puts the threat of prosecution between hundreds of thousands of families and their doctors and would put doctors behind bars for exercising their best medical judgment,” said Mike Zamore, National Director of Policy & Government Affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union. “Passing this bill would be a grave escalation of an already severe effort to not only push transgender people out of public life but also allow the state to control our bodies and our lives further.” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who argued in favor of the bill on the House floor, said on Wednesday, “It is obscene. It is disgusting. You’re seeing in real time Democrats wanting and defending grooming of children. And it is abhorrent.” “There is a lie at the heart of the debate we’re having today that I have to correct — no child is born in the wrong body. There are only two sexes, male and female. There are no others,” Mace said.
Suspect accused of causing massive fatal pileup was illegal immigrant who obtained CDL in New York: feds
Federal officials announced Wednesday that the suspect accused of causing a massive fatal pileup in Tennessee last week was an illegal immigrant who obtained a commercial driver’s license (CDL) in the “sanctuary state” of New York. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) said the suspect, 54-year-old Yisong Huang, illegally entered the country from Mexico in 2023. Officials added that Huang, who reportedly could not speak English, was released under the Biden administration and provided work authorization papers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who has previously warned that illegal immigrants are obtaining commercial driver’s licenses (CDL), said this incident represents yet another example. “It’s not just that Joe Biden let millions of migrants flood into our country illegally,” Duffy said in a statement Wednesday. “His administration doled out the documentation these unqualified foreign drivers needed to obtain trucking licenses and operate 40-ton missiles on the highway. The fact that this individual failed a basic English test also calls into question how he even got the license in the first place.” ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CAUGHT DRIVING COMMERCIAL TRUCK WITH VALID NEW YORK CDL AT CALIFORNIA CHECKPOINT Investigators reported that, on Dec. 9, Huang was driving an empty bus on a major highway when he became “distracted by a video on his phone.” The New York Post reported Huang was operating a tour bus. He allegedly rear-ended a tractor-trailer and triggered a chain-reaction crash that led to two injuries and the death of one American citizen, Kerry Smith, according to officials. Huang was later arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter, according to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office. Huang entered the U.S. illegally two years ago, according to the DHS. Officials said he admitted to Border Patrol agents that he was a Chinese national but was later released and given work authorization papers and a Social Security card. This allowed Huang to get a Class B CDL, a process that ultimately led to the deadly multi-vehicle crash, the agency alleges. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT TRUCK DRIVER IN FATAL CALIFORNIA CRASH SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAD LICENSE: DOT REPORT The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles told Fox News Digital Wednesday that Huang’s license was issued on April 11, 2025, and that he presented all the proper federal documents to obtain one. His papers established a “lawful presence” until July 15, 2029, the agency said. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement on Tuesday, “Far too many innocent Americans have been killed by illegal aliens driving semitrucks and big rigs. And yet, sanctuary states around the country have been issuing illegal aliens commercial driver’s licenses. The Trump Administration is ending the chaos. The brave men and women of ICE are working nonstop to get criminal illegal aliens out of our communities and off our roads.” Duffy announced Friday that a nationwide audit found more than 50% of New York’s non-domiciled trucking licenses — commercial licenses issued to non-legal residents of the state — were issued illegally. According to Duffy, the state DMV “has been routinely issuing CDLs to foreign drivers illegally. The federal audit exposed a shocking 53% failure rate in the records sampled, indicating a total collapse in the administration of New York’s CDL program.” In response, New York State DMV spokesperson Walter McClure said Friday, “Secretary Duffy is lying about New York State once again in a desperate attempt to distract from the failing, chaotic administration he represents. “Here is the truth: Commercial drivers Licenses are regulated by the Federal Government, and New York State DMV has, and will continue to, comply with federal rules. Every CDL we issue is subject to verification of an applicant’s lawful status through federally-issued documents reviewed in accordance with federal regulations. This is just another stunt from Secretary Duffy, and it does nothing to keep our roads safer. We will review USDOT’s letter and respond accordingly.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Tennessee DOT for more information.
Senate confirms Jared Isaacman as NASA chief months after Trump-Musk rift that may have pulled his nomination
The Senate confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman Wednesday in a 67-30 vote to serve as NASA administrator, months after President Donald Trump withdrew the same nomination during his public feud with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The confirmation places Isaacman, an investor in SpaceX and leader of two private spaceflight missions, at the helm of the nation’s space agency. Reuters reported that Isaacman becomes NASA’s 15th administrator and is known as an advocate of Mars missions. Trump previously pulled Isaacman’s nomination in May, citing what he described at the time as “a thorough review of prior associations.” Fox News Digital reported at the time that the decision was made amid escalating tensions between Trump and Musk, who had recently departed his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and publicly criticized Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” TRUMP TEASES MUSK AT FORUM AS ONCE-FROSTY DYNAMIC SEEMS TO TAKE A TURN Isaacman later suggested the timing of the withdrawal was no coincidence. Speaking on the “All-In Podcast,” he said, “I don’t need to play dumb on this. I don’t think that the timing was much of a coincidence.” He added that “there were some people that had some axes to grind, I guess, and I was a good, visible target,” Fox News Digital previously reported. The nomination was revisited in the fall as relations between Trump and Musk appeared to thaw. In October, NASA officials confirmed Isaacman was again under consideration after meetings with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who was tasked with vetting candidates for the permanent NASA role at Trump’s direction. Trump formally renominated Isaacman in November, praising him in a social media post. “Jared’s passion for Space, and his commitment to American Leadership in Space, make him ideally suited to lead NASA into a bold new Era,” Trump wrote. DOGE VS DC: INSIDE TRUMP AND MUSK’S AMBITIOUS SWAMP-DRAINING DREAM THAT ENDED IN A BITTER FEUD Fox News Digital has extensively reported on the broader Trump-Musk feud that surrounded the nomination’s earlier withdrawal. In May and June, the two men publicly exchanged harsh words over Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill.” Musk accused Trump of pushing a “disgusting abomination,” while Trump said Musk had gone “CRAZY” and was “wearing thin.” Signs of reconciliation followed when Trump and Musk shook hands and spoke briefly at Charlie Kirk’s memorial, with Trump later saying, “We had a little conversation. We had a very good relationship, but it was nice that he came over.” Musk also attended a White House dinner hosted by Trump and appeared at other administration events. Trump later teased Musk publicly, telling an audience, “You’re so lucky I’m with you, Elon. I’ll tell you. Has he ever thanked me properly?” Musk responded on X by saying, “I would like to thank President Trump for all he has done for America and the world.” Axios reported Tuesday that Musk has begun financially backing Republican House and Senate candidates ahead of the 2026 midterms, showing warming relations after what the outlet described as a “messy breakup” earlier this year. Politico similarly reported that Musk has said his relationship with Trump “went up in flames” in June but has since been rebuilt. Isaacman’s confirmation brings that arc to a close, cementing his leadership role at NASA. Isaacman previously commanded Inspiration4, the first all-civilian mission to orbit Earth, and later led the Polaris Dawn mission, both in partnership with SpaceX. The White House and representatives for Musk and Isaacman did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Speaker Johnson ekes out healthcare bill victory after House GOP Obamacare rebellion
House Republicans passed a bill they say will lower healthcare costs for a broad swath of Americans by roughly 11%. It’s a victory for Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who has been managing deep divisions within the House GOP on the topic of healthcare as insurance premiums are set to spike across the country in a matter of weeks. One glaring issue that remains unresolved is Obamacare subsidies, which were enhanced during the COVID-19 pandemic but are set to expire at the end of this year. The legislation passed 216 to 211. Just one Republican, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., voted against it along with all House Democrats. THE SPEAKER’S LOBBY: WHAT CONGRESS’ DECEMBER SCRIPT MEANS FOR HEALTHCARE NEXT YEAR The bill’s passage comes hours after a group of moderate Republicans joined a Democrat-led discharge petition to force a vote on extending the subsidies for another three years. A discharge petition is a mechanism for overriding the will of House leaders to get a chamberwide vote on specific legislation, provided it has support from a majority of lawmakers. It sets up the legislation for a vote sometime in the new year. Each of the four House Republicans made clear that backing Democrats’ bill was not their first choice, but they felt they were left with few options after Johnson made clear this week that there would not be a separate vote on extending the subsidies before the end of this year. But the majority of House Republicans are against extending the subsidies, at least without significant reforms. Conservatives have argued the subsidies amount to throwing more money at a long-broken system that does little to tackle the actual cost of healthcare. “Obamacare has been an unmitigated disaster for 15 years, crushing families with high premiums and rampant fraud while enriching insurance companies. It’s time for conservatives to get serious about advancing policies that can become law and therefore actually reduce costs,” Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, who called the House bill a “solid first step,” told Fox News Digital. MODERATE REPUBLICAN ERUPTS ON HOUSE GOP LEADERS, SAYS NOT HOLDING OBAMACARE VOTE IS ‘ABSOLUTE BULLS—‘ Republicans who are for extending them have also conceded that reforms are needed, but have positioned a short-term extension as the best course of action to buy more time to work on an off-ramp. The House GOP bill, the Lower Health Care Premiums for All Americans Act, includes provisions to codify association health plans, which allow small businesses and people who are self-employed to band together to purchase healthcare coverage plans, giving them access to greater bargaining power. Republicans also plan to appropriate funding for cost-sharing reductions beginning in 2027, which are designed to lower out-of-pocket medical costs in the individual healthcare market. House GOP leadership aides said it would bring down the cost of premiums by 12%. SENATE MULLS NEXT STEPS AFTER DUELING OBAMACARE FIXES GO UP IN FLAMES New transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are also in the legislation, aimed at forcing PBMs to be more upfront about costs to employers. PBMs are third parties that act as intermediaries between pharmaceutical companies and those responsible for insurance coverage, often responsible for administrative tasks and negotiating drug prices. PBMs have also been the subject of bipartisan ire in Congress, with both Republicans and Democrats accusing them of being part of a broken system to inflate health costs. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that enacting the bill would reduce the federal deficit by $35.6 billion for a 10-year period through 2035. If the bill became law, it would also decrease the number of people with health insurance by an average of 100,000 per year between 2027-2035 and lower gross benchmark premium costs by an average 11% through 2035, CBO said. However, it’s not immediately clear whether it will be taken up by the Senate. Republicans in the upper chamber failed to advance their own healthcare plan last week after also rejecting Democrats’ plan to extend the Obamacare subsidies.
Nearly two-thirds of American voters back social media ban for kids under 16, Fox News poll shows
Nearly two-thirds of voters and parents support banning social media for children under 16 and removing cellphones from K-12 classrooms, with Republicans showing the strongest backing, according to a new Fox News poll. The survey is based on interviews with 1,001 registered voters randomly drawn from a national voter file. Respondents participated by landline, cellphone or through an online questionnaire sent by text. When asked about banning social media for children under 16, 64% favored the measure, while 35% opposed it. The numbers did not waver among parents, with 64% in favor of banning social media for children under 16 – 36% were opposed. FOX NEWS POLL: AS PRICES PINCH, VOTERS SEE TRUMP FOCUSED ELSEWHERE Among party groups, 73% of Republicans supported the ban compared with 56% of Democrats. Participants were also asked about banning cellphones in K-12 classrooms, and 69% supported the idea while 31% opposed it. Among parents, 63% supported the ban and 37% opposed it. Support was even higher among Republicans at 81%, compared with 59% of Democrats. AFTER AUSTRALIA PASSES SOCIAL MEDIA BAN LAWMAKERS PROBED ON WHY CONGRESS HASN’T DONE MORE TO PROTECT KIDS The results were released a week after Australia’s landmark new social media age requirement took effect, barring anyone under 16 from holding an account. The measure is now among the world’s strictest online safety rules. The Australian government’s Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act passed in November 2024 and began being enforced on Dec. 10, 2025. “From Dec. 10, if you’re under 16, you’re no longer allowed to have a social media account,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a video statement played in classrooms ahead of the restrictions, according to 9 News Australia. “You’ll know better than anyone what it’s like growing up with algorithms, endless feeds and the pressure that can come with that.” USHA VANCE BACKS BOOKS OVER PHONES AS MORE SCHOOLS IMPLEMENT NO-CELL POLICIES Platforms banned for youth in Australia include Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube. Australia’s eSafety commissioner, the country’s independent online safety regulator, says the new minimum-age rule requires platforms to take “reasonable steps” to stop anyone under 16 from holding an account. That includes deploying age-assurance tools, removing existing underage users and blocking attempts to re-register through methods such as VPN detection. Companies that fail to comply face penalties of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars, or roughly $32 million. AUSTRALIAN MOTHER CALLS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA AGE RESTRICTIONS AFTER DAUGHTER’S SUICIDE In the U.S., concerns about youth social media use have grown, with lawmakers in both parties warning about its impact on children’s mental health. At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week, lawmakers argued that tech companies have not done enough to protect children from online exploitation. Senators pressed experts on whether stronger age restrictions, tougher accountability rules for social media platforms and changes to Section 230 are needed to better protect young people online. LAWMAKERS UNVEIL BIPARTISAN GUARD ACT AFTER PARENTS BLAME AI CHATBOTS FOR TEEN SUICIDES, VIOLENCE An April 2025 Pew Research Center report found growing concern among parents and teenagers about social media’s impact on youth well-being, with nearly half of teens saying it has a mostly negative effect on people their age. A separate 2023 Gallup survey of more than 1,500 adolescents found that 51% of U.S. teens spend at least four hours a day on social media, with the average teen logging 4.8 hours across seven major platforms. “Across age groups, average daily social media use runs from 4.1 hours for 13-year-olds to 5.8 hours for 17-year-olds. Girls spend nearly an hour more on social media than boys (5.3 vs. 4.4 hours),” the survey said. The latest Fox News poll was conducted from Dec. 12-15, 2025, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R). Results are based on the full sample and have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points, with higher error margins for subgroups. Beyond sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report.